I keep thinking of a word to describe how I feel about the episode, and I keep coming back around to "fine." It was fine. There were a few moments that I really loved, but by the end of it all, I was left both firmly whelmed and with the now familiar frustration over certain writing choices.
Let's dive right into those choices so that we can end the review on a high note. And we might as well start with the one that will have the biggest effect on seasons going forward. No, It: Welcome to Derry has not been officially renewed yet as of writing, but you don't pop a Chapter One tag on to the end of it unless you're very sure that there will be a Chapter Two.
Last week, General Shaw channeled The Purge movies. Today, Pennywise decided to give The Terminator a try. Maybe. Kind of? Marge being Richie Tozier's mother was a very popular fan theory, and it was a fun one. It made sense that a small town like Derry would have a lot of people who stayed there their entire lives.
What I'm far less certain about is Pennywise deciding to kill her and the other Loser Club ancestors in an attempt to avoid its own death. Can it actually go back in time, or is it more of a 'I see all of time all at once' kind of thing? Does it really matter? The point is that even though Pennywise knew who Marge (and Will for that matter!) was, it still didn't make a more concrete effort to kill her. At least the Terminator seriously tried to kill Sarah Connor.
And at least Sarah Connor raised John to be a revolutionary! I know that Derry makes people forget things, but Marge names her son after Richie! How do you not prepare him? Is this what the future seasons will be about? Pennywise trying and failing to kill children who then don't warn or try to protect their own kids?
And the Hanlons! In what world does it make any sense for them to stay and take Rose's place as a guardian? There's zero evidence of that in the movies too. It just felt bad. It felt like the script contorting them into place as opposed to a decision that the characters would ever make for themselves.
There was a lot of that. For a finale, there was a lot of exposition that, all credit to Kimberly Guerrero for making it sound at least somewhat natural, felt like it was made up on the spot so that they could lock Pennywise away again. And while the magic dagger has clearly been affecting Lilly for awhile, the reason behind it was a little nonsensical. It wanted to go back home? What? Then how could anyone have it at all to begin with?
And so many things simply did not have the impact or weight that they should. Basically half the school population gets hit by the deadlights and pied-piper'ed across a frozen river? Means nothing. Pennywise deliberately goes to the Hanlon house to kidnap Will? Nothing happens to him. Leroy gets hit by the deadlights? No ill effect. Dick is overwhelmed by all of the ghosts that he sees? Rose has a magic tea to fix that right up. General Shaw gets his head bitten off and Taniel gets shot? Neither of them had the effect that I had hoped that they would.
I could go on, but just reading me list off a bunch of grievances isn't fun. So let's turn to the parts of the episode that I did enjoy. Welcome to Derry has always excelled when it comes to vibes and letting emotions act as the warm, gooey, cheesy center of things.
Like Rich. Is it silly and super cheesy that Rich's ghost reappeared so that he could join his friends in burying the dagger? Sure. But him flipping Pennywise off as he ran to them was great. And it felt right for him to be there, for the five of them and their friendship to be enough to overpower the magic dagger and save the day. Because that's always been the moral at the heart of the story, hasn't it? No matter how scary or awful the world is, your friends are there to help you and make you so much stronger than you could ever hope to be alone.
I also really loved Dick giving Pennywise a taste of its own medicine by making it think that it was Bob Gray. Very clever use of powers. Pennywise frozen with all of his teeth out like that was also a very cool visual. There were a few cool, creepy shots, like Pennywise slow motion running through the fog or how it shifted between all of the different scary faces before it was banished for another 27 years.
All of the press leading up to the series premiere mentioned how this first season only set the stage for the bigger things that are to come. While that need to set up such things hampered a lot of the plotting, I'm still curious enough to see how things play out. So... next stop, 1935?
Random Thoughts
I'm disappointed that Leroy's supposed inability to feel fear lead absolutely nowhere. It was such a promising idea that wasn't explored at all.
“How much trouble could a hotel be?” A lot, Dick. It can be a lot of trouble.
That being said, I'm still waiting for my Overlook Hotel spin-off. I'd watch that in a second.
"Winter Fire" is, of course, a reference to the poem that Ben wrote for Bev. We briefly see Bev (Sophia Lillis reprising her role) at the very end.
I really loved how we could see Pennywise's glowing eyes even through the fog. Also the way his head reappeared like a jack-in-the-box the first time it was blown off.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
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